We’ll take ’em any way we can get ’em these days. Every win gives us a little more breathing room and helps us keep pace with the rest of the western conference. So, while in a normal seaon beating Charlotte on the road wouldn’t be celebrated with much fanfare we definitely needed last night’s win in the face of what is to come. Big games from old friends saved the day. Let’s dig in.
- Kuzma’s Jekyll & Hyde game. It started rough for Kyle. Air-balled a three, hit the side of the backboard shooting a three, and he seemed to be nursing his calf all game long. But he dug down deep and found the grit to start hitting big time shots including a monstrous jam over Bismack Biyombo to help close out the first half strong. While it won’t be remembered as his most efficient outing ((7-18, 4-12 from three) Kyle got the job done on a night we needed someone in the starting line up to lead the way.
- Alex Caruso’s big game. Caruso has, like most of the players not named James or Davis, had an up and down season. One game solid, then an MIA game and so on. Last night Alex looked like he did for most of last season where he made little plays that contributed to a big night. Leading the team in +/- last season was his modus operandi last season and he’s struggled to replicate that impact all season long, especially without sharing the floor with the Laker superstars. There are things Caruso does regularly that I wish guys like Kuzma, THT and others did, as well. Stunt and recover is big on my list, it won’t ever show up in a metric or a stat box or anywhere people look to prove something is good and necessary to winning but what he does on the perimeter in regards to helping and recovering is one of the things that makes the Laker defense elite. Yeah he has some decent hops and can hit shots but it’s the other end where Alex’s impact is felt. He scored some points, had some assists and grabbed some rebounds in addition to his defense.
- KCP’s shut down game. One of the reasons this game was so close was one Josh McDaniels. He was going off in the first half, grabbing boards, making buckets and playing at a high level. Then Frank switched KCP onto him and that all stopped. McDaniels did most of his damage against defenders not named Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. I’ve been fairly harsh, some would say deservedly, on KCP this season. When you sign a big deal it comes with expectations, fair or not. In all honesty I don’t think I would argue that Kentavious has lived up to his deal this season but his defense has been pretty solid despite his offensive inconsistencies. In that vein KCP had another mediocre scoring game as he fought through back spasms but it never once deterred him on defense.
- Managing the turnover issue. Finally, a game where we didn’t cough the ball up 267 times. 11 turnovers, very manageable. Let’s do this more.
- The next two to three weeks. This is a make or break stretch coming up for the Lakers. The next couple of weeks will determine what playoff seeding we have, whether we have to rock a play-in game and if we make the playoffs at all. The win against the Hornets was crucial as it allowed us to keep pace with the top 3 teams in the western conference (who all won their most recent game/s) and gain ground on the Nuggets (who lost and going to sorely miss Jamaal Murray). We can’t get caught up with what’s happening with the other teams we just need to handle our business. Here’s what is on the docket.
4/15 – Celtics
4/17 – Jazz
4/19 – Jazz
4/22 – @Mavs
4/24 – @Mavs
4/26 – @Magic
Theoretically AD could potentially return around the Magic game. But since he hasn’t done any on-court scrimmage or five-on-five action yet it’s impossible to say if that timeline is an accurate one or one based on what media pundits are speculating. Let’s just say, for arguments sake, AD comes back after the game against the Magic. That would 4/28 – @Wizards, maybe that gets pushed back to the 4/30 – Kings game at STAPLES.
After that Kings game there are only 9 remaining opponents on the schedule. SO this little 6 or 7 game stretch could define a lot of what the Laker’s postseason challenges will look like. The back-to-back against the Jazz feels like a back-to-back loss in the makings, Celtics have been an on/off team all season but does anyone here expect them to have an ‘off’ game against us with playoff implications in the mix? Ought to beat the Magic but even the Wizards are playing their best basketball of the season right now and are in the mix for a play-in.
We need to win at least 3 of those games up there, four would be better. Can we stun the Mavs and beat them twice? Sure, maybe. Can we eke out a win in the second game after Vogel makes some adjustments to the schemes against the Jazz? I suppose. The key in all of those games is to play like they did last night. Shots might not fall, the zone may clog up the paint, and guys who are hoping to make a lot of money (or already do) might not shine as brightly as hoped for. You have to defend hard and compete at the highest level, regardless of how ugly the offense might be. It’s the only way we come out respectable.
Anyhow, decent road trip, all things considered. Kuzma’s calf, KCP’s back and the issues that have plagued us all season are certainly worrisome but there’s nothing to do but show up and play hard. Let’s get to doing it.
Thanks, Jamie. What I like about this win is that they were finally able to limit the turnovers. If they keep that going, I don’t care if it is Utah, Dallas, Boston in the next stretch of games coming, they stand a chance to win. Our biggest problem has been turnovers.
What I really don’t understand from the coaching staff is this: why was Mckinnie benched after having done so well in the few minutes he was on the floor? The team looked fatigued and tired, but Mckinnie came in and looked fresh and active. He brought some energy to the team after missing the previous night’s game. But instead, was benched the rest of the game. I don’t get that.
Good fiver, Jamie. Thank you. Appreciate the work and effort.
1. I like Kuz shooting 12 threes even though he only made 4. We need threes when our centers are averaging 3.5 and 3.0 ppg the last two games. We rank 7th in makes and 3rd in 3P% for the road trip. Need to keep it for another 5 games.
2. Alex starting to shoot much better and always good for one of two hustle plays but his passing is still shaky and he’s not shutting down players like he did last year. But good game.
3. Kenny coming to life at the right time. Not sure what the deal is with him but he had some plays that reminded me of Playoff KCP. Let’s hope he keeps it up.
4. Only 11 turnovers was a key to winning this game. I didn’t like our lack of energy on hustle plays. Per NBA.com, Hornets recovered 8 loose balls to our 4.5.
5. Schedule. Next 5 games are critical. Last big road block or speed bump before we get LeBron and AD back. Need to somehow win at least 2 of these 5.